yumyumyum.

I've had a major craving for coconut lately, so what better time to make some cupcakes! Toasted Coconut Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting, to be exact. Swoon.

I'm lucky enough to live with a culinary student, so she has lots of fun ingredients to use (like coconut oil) that I don't have to buy. The thought of using coconut milk excited me, but that was short-lived...

Yikes. Definitely not the creamy and smooth condensed milk-like vision that I had pictured. Then it got worse.

It exploded into a watery mess when I tried to stir it up. This was definitely not looking delicious, but this recipe promised me that these were "little bites of heaven" so who would I be if I admitted defeat already?

I used fancy organic sugar this time because, guess what? Not all sugar is vegan. Am I the only one who didn't know this?!

http://www.vegfamily.com/articles/sugar.htm

I'm going to have to look into some companies that don't use bone char filtering because this little bag of Full Circle isn't going to last long. I'm so glad I know this now.

After the batter was finished and in the oven, I was instructed to toast the coconut. This made me a little nervous, as I had never toasted anything besides bread before.

Turns out it was ridiculously easy. All I had to do was keep stirring it. For some reason I thought a lot more went into toasting. I was tickled with myself, regardless.

The Coffee Buttercream Frosting was very similar to the espresso recipe I used previously, but instead called for coffee extract. I said "boo" to that and again used a Via packet.

I think they turned out pretty cute. And given the reactions from others, I think they are my best yet! That, or they were just trying to be encouraging. Either way, I think I might be getting the hang of this. Maybe.

back on track...

... and I was barely on to begin with.

Obviously my (over)enthusiastic goal of baking & blogging an entry every week is not going to happen. I guess I didn't realize how much time I would need for this little project. It could also have to do with the fact that I'm the worst. procrastinator. ever.

No matter, let's talk cupcakes!

Last week was icky and rainy, so I thought it was

the perfect time to try out the chai latte recipe. Although it will never come close to my obsession for coffee, I love tea and have a nasty habit of hoarding fancy teabags (from restaurants, waiting rooms, hotels) whenever the I get the opportunity. Needless to say, I was excited to break into my stash.

The recipe called for black tea, with chai spices (cloves, cinnamon, ginger, etc.) added to it. But since I had chai teabags, I decided to use them and still add in all the spices. I was pretty proud of myself for grinding my own cardamom (and because of it, my coffee for the next few days smelled delish).

I had to tinker the recipe just a smidge. First of all, Gateway Market didn't have soy yogurt (I know, right?) so I had to substitute with verrrry expensive coconut milk yogurt.

I'm glad I had an excuse to buy it, because it was just like the name says... SO DELICIOUS. I also used rice milk instead of soy milk.

Luckily, I didn't have to attempt frosting this time and instead was instructed to mix up some powdered sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to use for dusting. They sure weren't very

pretty, but it was an easy alternative. In the end, these little nuggets tasted more like spiced muffins than cupcakes, but since my co-workers ate all but one, they must not have been too bad.

here goes nothing...

Baking requires a type of patience and preciseness that I have never been able to grasp. Maybe this is why my first recipe didn't exactly go as well as I had hoped. I decided to start with

"Your Basic Chocolate Cupcake" recipe because it seemed much easier than the others and I already had most of the ingredients.

I substituted chocolate soy milk for regular (which was a delicious decision) but had to use kosher salt instead of the regular, table variety. I was nervous this would result in a gritty texture, but it didn't seem to matter. I was actually quite excited that the creation of the batter was easy-peasy... nothing too traumatic or messy and they were in the oven.

Since I'm new to this, I chose the basic "Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting" that is used throughout the book in different variations.

I chose the espresso version, which instructed to use strong coffee instead of soy milk. This was a perfect oppourtunity to bust out Starbucks Via packets (thanks Dad!) which worked waaaay better than brewing a whole pot (although I would have happily drank the rest).

Since I was so excited for frosting, I didn't pay attention to the fact I was supposed to cream ingredients one at a time and instead mixed them all together at once. I didn't think it would matter too

much, but don't know why else my frosting turned into a soupy

mess. Although it is very tasty, there is nothing "fluffy" about it. Hmphf.

No matter, they are still delicious and hell, it's my first try. So, I will enjoy my chocolate & espresso cupcakes with a Guinness

and celebrate a beautiful spring day, as well as the Varnum v. Brien Anniversary... cheers!

hi!

I have my own blog! I feel so hip. Isn't this what all the cool kids are doing these days?

It all started last weekend when I made a trip to Borders to use my 40% off coupon. I love a bargain. I had been playing around with the idea of cooking more and trying out a new recipe each week, so I was creeping around the vegetarian cookbook section. There it was, so cute and tiny... "Vegan Cupcakes Takeover the World". The photos alone would have sold me, but when I noticed the foreword was penned by Sara Quin (of Tegan and Sara) it sealed the deal.

So, here I am. I never fancied myself a baker. Nor have I ever even had much of a sweet tooth. But I am trying out new things and am stoked to bake my way through this little book. I'm preparing for plenty of failed attempts, but hopefully along the way I will learn a thing or two and feed some hungry co-workers while I'm at it.